Reminiscences of Vice Adm. Samuel L. Gravely Jr., USN (Ret.)

This oral history is of particular significance because it contains the recollections of one of the early line officers commissioned by the U.S. Navy and later the Navy’s first black commander, captain, rear admiral, and vice admiral. Gravely was commissioned in 1944 through the college V-12 program and served in World War II on board the submarine chaser USS PC-1264. After a postwar stint of civilian life, he was recalled to active duty in 1949 as a recruiter and remained in active service until his retirement in 1980. He had Korean War service in the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). Later tours of duty in the 1950s included the heavy cruiser USS Toledo (CA-133), staff of the Third Naval District, and the attack cargo ship USS Seminole (AKA-104). In the 1960s he was executive officer and acting commanding officer of the destroyer USS Theodore E. Chandler (DD-717), commanded the radar picket destroyer escort USS Falgout (DER-324), helped integrate the Naval War College, served in the Defense Communications Agency in the Pentagon, commanded the destroyer USS Taussig (DD-746), and was coordinator of the Navy’s satellite communications program. While in command of the guided missile destroyer leader USS Jouett (DLG-29), he was selected for flag rank in 1971. Both the Taussig and Jouett had Vietnam War service during his time as skipper. His flag commands included Naval Communications Command, Cruiser-Destroyer Group Two, the Eleventh Naval District, Third Fleet, and the Defense Communications Agency. When he became Commander Third Fleet in 1976 he was promoted to vice admiral, another first for an African American. Admiral Gravely’s post-Navy activities included work with the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.

Vice Adm. Samuel L. Gravely, Jr., was commissioned in 1944, promoted to admiral in 1971, and retired from the Navy in 1980. He died in 2004. Paul Stillwell is an independent historian and retired naval officer. He worked for thirty years at the U.S. Naval Institute as an oral historian and editor of Naval History magazine. He is the author or editor of fourteen books, including four on battleships and an award-winning volume on the Navy’s first African American officers, The Golden Thirteen. His 2021 book Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr. also received acclaim. He lives in Arnold, Maryland.